Concerns have been raised about the nasty smell from an area of “swamp” at Maryfield in Dumfries.

Large parts of the field have been plagued by problems for years and residents have grown tired at the lack of action taken to tackle the overgrown marshland and pong that continues to linger.

David Brydson, of Barnton Road, Dumfries, claims the state of the land next to his garden is worse than ever at the moment, describing it as a swamp.

He said: “There must be nearly three acres of land that is covered in surface water and has become nothing more than marshland.

“The stagnant water is causing a horrible smell and nobody seems to be taking responsibility for the problem. All the local residents are in agreement that something needs to be done.”

He added: “Eight or nine years ago I would play in the field with my daughters all the time. Now I couldn’t even access the field from my back garden if I wanted to because of the state of it.

“The grass is so long that it has become dangerous. It’s like a swamp. I spoke to one of the grass cutters recently and he told me they couldn’t deal with that area of the field as it was too soft. I can understand that.”

Mr Brydson told the Standard the problem had been exacerbated by the construction of the Gillbrae Medical Centre. He claims surface water runs off the car park onto the field.

Nith ward councillor John Martin refuted the suggestion that nothing had been done to provide a solution. He said: “We are well aware of the problem at Maryfield and have actually been investigating it for a number of years now.

“We’ve been working with Scottish Water in an attempt to find the problem but there has yet to be a conclusive answer on how to eradicate the issue. It is believed that when the field was initially built there may have been a stream on the site was concreted over in order to progress construction. One theory is that water may have broken through the concrete and affected the field.

“This is not a minor problem and there is no quick fix either. We’ve had engineers look at the site and it would be an expensive process to undertake should a solution be provided.”

He pointed out it had been a problem long before the medical centre was built.